Arm strength for rec and lower level gymnasts

I wanted to share a couple videos today of things to do to increase arm strength in your rec and lower level team gymnasts. Swinging bars takes A LOT of strength, and it’s often hard to find ways to strengthen kids that a) they can succeed at and b) don’t get tedious.

This first one is great if you’ve got a spare bar this is a great exercise to do. It works arm strength, weight shifting and pushing down on the bar all at once. Make sure they are doing them with straight arms even if they can’t go all the way across.

If your gymnasts can hold a good push-up shape this is a nice exercise to start. It’s starting to work their ability to maintain their body shape while other parts of their bodies are working, as well as being great for arms.

Handstands are always good for increasing arm strength but there are only so many handstands again a wall one can do. With this version you are giving inexperienced gymnast some support and something to balance on – without doing too much of the work for them.